10 Books from Holland - Nederlands Letterenfonds
Transcription
10 Books from Holland - Nederlands Letterenfonds
10 Books from Holland Frankfurt Book Fair Issue ederlands N letterenfonds dutch foundation for literature Autumn 2015 2 Books from Holland Frequently Asked Questions 10 Books from Holland? Who decides the contents? Our editors. We want to showcase the best contemporary fiction from the Netherlands for our audience of literary publishers. In addition, there is always one classic, one graphic novel and one thriller. Most titles have been published recently and have enjoyed good sales, excellent reviews and one or more literary awards or nominations. Though sometimes one of these factors is enough. Equally important is the question: ‘Does it travel?’ Our advisors talk to publishers from all over the world and while it is impossible to say with certainty which novels will travel where, we have the expertise to make an educated guess. At book fairs, do you talk about these books exclusively? While we like to discuss our catalogue, there are always other titles: books that have just appeared or are about to come out or books that just missed our selection. Our advisors read as much fiction as they can. Do you work together with Dutch publishers and agents? We keep each other informed about interest in titles and rights sales. When we commission a sample translation, we usually share the costs. However, we always make our own decisions, and remain completely independent. How many books by one author will you support? We can support one author with three books. If the author has changed publishing houses, previous titles are not counted. Are all books in your brochure eligible for a grant? Yes they are, with a maximum subsidy of 100% of the translation costs for classics and 70% for contemporary prose, based on the actual fee paid by the publisher. Are books that aren’t included in your brochure eligible? As long as it’s a good literary title, it probably is. We make our decisions based on three criteria: literary quality of the book, status of the publishing house and quality of the translator. You can always ask in advance if a book is eligible or not. Can you help us find a translator? Lists of experienced translators are provided by e-mail. Do you subsidise production costs? This is possible in the case of editions of poetry, illustrated children’s books or graphic novels. For regular fiction and non-fiction, we support translation costs only. We would like to invite a Dutch author for a promotional visit. If you organise a good programme and offer the author accommodation, we can cover the travel costs. I’ve heard so much about the Amsterdam Fellowship. Every September, we organise a fellowship (4 days) for publishers and editors. We do not have an application procedure, but you can always send us an e-mail stating your interest. Individual Publisher’s Visits We host 8 to 10 publishers and editors per year on an individual basis. Usually, these are great if you already have one or more Dutch authors on your list and would like to see them, combined with a schedule of meetings. What’s Schwob? Schwob.nl is a European network for forgotten or undiscovered books, established and maintained by translators, publishers and editors, researchers, readers and critics. Can I subscribe to Books from Holland? Please leave your card at our stand, or send a message. All our past issues are available at www.letterenfonds.nl. Advisors Fiction Barbara den Ouden Eastern and Middle Europe, Mediterranean countries, Russia. Graphic novels. [email protected] Victor Schiferli Scandinavia, German and English-language countries. [email protected] Reintje Gianotten Germany. [email protected] Tiziano Perez Brazil, China, Japan. [email protected] We want to work with somebody who is not on your list. Then we require a sample translation of 20 pages and the translator’s CV. If the translation is good, the translator will be added to our list. If the translation needs repair, we can make suggestions. If the translation is beyond repair, you are advised to hire somebody who is on our list. How do we apply for a translation subsidy? We need contracts with the rights holders and the translator, plus the application form. You can submit digitally from our website: http://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/translation-subsidy. Meetings are held six times a year, the dates are announced on our website. Thomas Möhlmann: Arabic countries, [email protected] Alexandra Koch: Schwob, [email protected] 3 Books from Holland Connie Palmen You Said It The tragic love story of Plath and Hughes told by the husband who was branded a monster After Ted Hughes left her for another woman, Sylvia Plath killed herself. She became a martyr and a saint; he was branded a murderer and a monster. Hughes did little to dispel this version of events. In this novel, written as a dramatic monologue worthy of a poet laureate, Connie Palmen gives Hughes a voice to tell his side of the story. This is not Palmen’s first examination of the troubling relationship between the public perception of celebrated figures and the true story that lies beneath. Her sixth novel, You Said It is based on fact and results in a convincing portrait of a young couple, their all-consuming love for one another, their struggles as poets, their creative bond and their neuroses. A vast amount has been written about Plath, while far less has been published on Hughes. Beyond literary circles he is often reduced to the role of ‘the husband’. He maintained his self-imposed silence about Plath’s suicide until shortly before his death in 1998 with the publication of Birthday Letters. Palmen’s novel is set around that time and seeks to bring Hughes out of the shadow cast by his wife’s death, perhaps even to emancipate him. The name Sylvia rarely appears in You Said It; Hughes as narrator consistently refers to her as ‘my bride’. The emphasis of the book lies on his work, his poetry, his love for his wife and his powerlessness to help her. The novel’s title echoes the words of Judas at the Last Supper. When Jesus tells his apostles that one of them will betray him and Judas protests ‘Surely, not I Lord?’ Jesus answers ‘You have said so.’ After Plath’s death, many feminists cast Hughes in the role of Judas, as a man who had callously betrayed and abandoned his wife, and many friends shunned him, blaming him for her suicide. In a letter to Plath’s mother, he wrote ‘I don’t want ever to be forgiven’. Palmen succeeds in creating empathy for both husband and wife. Many will feel inclined to take a milder, more forgiving view of Hughes after reading her take on their story. Connie Palmen’s new novel, her first in eight years, is a compelling, lyrical account of love and betrayal. Connie Palmen (b. 1955) studied Dutch and philosophy. She shot to fame with her first novel De wetten (The Laws, 1991). Her two subsequent novels De vriendschap (The Friendship, 1995) and I.M. (1998) followed her debut onto the bestsellers list. She went on to publish Geheel de uwe (Sincerely Yours, 2004), Lucifer (2007) and Logboek van een onbarmhartig jaar (Log Book of a Merciless Year, 2011). Palmen has also written several collections of essays, like Een kleine filosofie van de moord (A Short Philosophy of Murder, 2004) and Het geluk van de eenzaamheid (The Joy of Loneliness, 2009). She was awarded the AKO Literature Prize for De vriendschap and her work has been translated into twenty languages. Publishing details Jij zegt het (2015) 277 pp., 69,738 words 50,000 copies sold Publisher Prometheus Ronit Palache, [email protected] www.pbo.nl Translated titles Please see www.vertalingendatabase.nl ‘You Said It is a novel you cannot put down until the final page has been read. […] it’s like staying up all night listening to the intimate confessions of a close friend and staggering back to your own wan existence, reeling from the intense emotional journey.’ – De Morgen ‘Connie Palmen’s great achievement in You Said It, a beautifully written book, is that the voice of Ted Hughes wins you over from the word go. You forget that the voice is in fact Palmen’s. That’s when you know the novelist has done her job. Sheer class.’ – Het Parool ‘You Said It is Palmen’s finest novel to date.’ – NRC Handelsblad Photo: Annaleen Louwes 4 Books from Holland P.F. Thomése The Underwater Swimmer Masterly, moving triptych about a man haunted by loss The central figure in P.F. Thomése’s seventh novel is a haunted man who lives in the shadow of a boyhood trauma. At the age of fourteen he accompanies his father on a perilous night-time swim across a river from the Nazi-occupied Netherlands into liberated territory. The father disappears without trace and the son lives on, racked by guilt that goes on to shape his life. Thomése’s account of the life of Martin (‘Tin’) van Heel zooms in on three key episodes. It begins with the fatal river crossing in 1944 and Tin’s futile and anguished search for his missing father. The narrative then jumps to 1974 and a fateful trip to Africa, where Tin’s wife succumbs to the brutal heat. The novel’s final section moves forward to 2004 and Tin’s deathbed in a rundown Havana hospital. The thread running through Tin’s life is his inability to lay down the burden of responsibility for the tragedies he has suffered and his inability to move on. The Underwater Swimmer is in the form of three novellas. The story of young Tin’s wartime ordeal is tense and moving, while the account of Tin on his deathbed is profoundly sad yet rich in consolation. The dying Tin encounters the ‘indestructible hope’ of his newfound grandson. Or was that hope within Tin all along, ‘had it swum all those years, all those miles with him, unheeded?’ The pièce de résistance is the central section, the description of the journey that Tin and his wife undertake through an African landscape in search of the child they have sponsored through a charity. It begins as a hilarious account of an expedition by xenophobic Westerners through a world they have no hope of understanding but ends in heartbreak with Tin powerless to prevent his wife’s death. ‘With all his soul he wanted to make something right. To set something straight. Return home with a story that made sense. [...] He was never able to return home. Because he was to blame. He was always to blame, even now.’ Publishing details De onderwaterzwemmer (2015) 253 pp., 62,326 words 30,000 copies sold Publisher Atlas Contact Hayo Deinum [email protected] www.atlascontact.nl ‘The novel has all the elements of a page-turner: you never know who is about to emerge from the undergrowth.’ – NRC Handelsblad ‘A tale that works its way under your skin.’ – de Volkskrant By the time P.F. Thomése (b. 1958) won the AKO Literature Prize in 1991 for his novella collection Zuidland (Southland, 1990), he had already earned a reputation as a meticulous stylist with a sophisticated sense of humour, and an impassioned advocate of the primacy of the imagination in literature. In the course of his career he has developed an astounding range, from the intensely personal Schaduwkind (Shadow Child, 2003) – his literary response to the death of his young daughter – and the romantic tragedy De weldoener (A Girl of His Own, 2010) to the biting political satire of Vladiwostok! (2007) and the sleazy slapstick of J. Kessels: The Novel (2009). ‘The narrative is tightly woven, the composition finely wrought, the style immensely powerful [...] his greatest work to date’ – Vrij Nederland Voted Book of the Month by the book panel of the Netherlands’ most influential talk show, De Wereld Draait Door. Photo: Annaleen Louwes 5 Books from Holland Guus Kuijer The Bible for Unbelievers A gloriously imaginative retelling of the Book of Books by a master storyteller Any attempt to bring the Bible to a fresh set of readers is a bold undertaking. Guus Kuijer, one of Holland’s best-loved authors for children and adults, steps effortlessly into the light with his own extraordinary retelling, written for a modern-day readership of unbelievers. Three volumes have been published to date, with part four following in autumn 2015. Kuijer is not on a critical crusade. Rather, he is keen to bridge the cultural gulf between the modern reader and the Middle East of the distant past, a world with perplexingly unfamiliar customs. Bypassing the likes of Moses and Abraham, he tells the story from the perspective of outsiders and underdogs – an inspired choice that creates plenty of room for emotion, doubt and disbelief. He has no qualms about skipping the dull bits. His Bible reads as an absorbing work of fiction, packed with enthralling scenes and lively dialogue – a unique achievement that earned him a well-deserved place on the shortlist for the AKO Literature Prize. One of the most striking and entertaining features of Kuijer’s series is its profoundly human take on these astounding and improbable tales. When Adam asks his maker ‘Are you really alone? Are there no other gods but you?’ God replies snippely: ‘I find that question rather inappropriate.’ By bringing an irreverent dose of realism to the inconceivable, Kuijer playfully illustrates the bizarre nature of the Bible. The fourth volume in the series turns to King David, just as his power is beginning to wane and his kingdom is coming under threat. It moves on to the reign of his promiscuous son Solomon: ‘God granted Solomon the gift of wisdom at which point Solomon said: “Thank you Lord God, I’ll help myself to around one thousand women.”’ It’s bound to end in tears. A key question about a Bible for Unbelievers is, how does God fare? Kuijer portrays Him as eccentric and capricious. When David conducts a census, God sends a plague upon the people of Israel, only to relent halfway: ‘God felt sorry! Understand? He had listened to seventy thousand men, women and children wailing, watched them die horribly while loving each of them. That hurt.’ God as fickle and fallible who brings death and destruction on a nation and then has second thoughts? Welcome to the wonderful world of Guus Kuijer. Guus Kuijer (b. 1942) is one of the Netherlands’ most popular writers for both children and adults. Countless children have grown up with his Madelief and Polleke series. He has won numerous major awards and his work has been widely translated, with several of his books being adapted for the stage. The Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of The Book of Everything has enjoyed enormous success in Australia and around the world. His work for adults includes Hoe een klein rotgodje God vermoordde (How A Small Little God Murdered God, 2006) and Hoe word ik gelukkig? (How To Be Happy, 2009). In 2012 Kuijer won the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for his children’s writing and in 2014 he was shortlisted for the AKO Literature Prize for The Bible for Unbelievers. Publishing details De bijbel voor ongelovigen. Deel 4. Koning David en de splitsing van het rijk. 272 pp., 90,050 words Publisher Athenaeum – Polak & Van Gennep Jolijn Spooren [email protected] www.singeluitgeverijen.nl Rights sold Germany (Kunstmann, first two volumes) USA (Seven Stories Press) ‘Kuijer is a master storyteller and his Bible sweeps you along from beginning to end. (…) He has been quoted as saying he needs one more book in order to round off his Bible for Unbelievers series. I hope with all my heart he ends up needing ten.’ – NRC Handelsblad ‘With his marvellous sense of humour, his lightness of touch, his erudition and his irascible nature, Kuijer has enriched the Book of Samuel […] giving it new depth and dispensing with the cloak of piety.’ – NRC Handelsblad ‘The three volumes of Guus Kuijer’s Bible for Unbelievers represent a completely original literary undertaking which knows no equal.’ – De Groene Amsterdammer Photo: Jaco Klamer 6 Books from Holland Jamal Ouariachi A Hunger A stylistic tour de force to move, dazzle, and court controversy Jamal Ouariachi bases this masterly novel of ideas on the life of Nobel Prizewinner Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, a physician and medical researcher convicted of child abuse. Besides exploring the nature of love and examining the wisdom and folly of development aid, A Hunger delivers a fierce polemic against rigid sexual mores and is above all an exhilarating tour de force. Aurélie is the loving and dedicated mother of a three-year-old daughter, a role she combines with a successful career in television. Her life is turned upside down when she receives a phone call out of the blue from an ex-lover: Alexander Laszlo, formerly an iconic figure in the world of Dutch development aid and once better known as ‘Holland’s answer to Bob Geldof ’. Ten years previously, the passionate relationship between Aurélie, then a young student, and the flamboyant Alexander came to an abrupt end when Laszlo was convicted of sexually abusing one of his Ethiopian foster children. The boy had been brought to Amsterdam together with a dozen other children to be raised as part of Laszlo’s megalomaniac Future Leaders of Europe initiative. The aim was to give these children the best possible education so that they would return to their homeland armed with the knowledge to make a difference to society. Aurélie is understandably hesitant when Alexander contacts her after all this time and asks her to write his biography, especially when it becomes clear that the book will feature an apologia for paedophilia. She agrees to write the book that will ultimately seal her ex-lover’s fate. In A Hunger, Ouariachi once again proves himself to be a gifted and ambitious stylist, taking the reader on a journey that spans several continents, several decades and a range of social issues but that also plunges deep into the inner lives of Aurélie and Alexander. He pulls out all the stops, juggling pastiche, literary parody and sly nods to the likes of Joyce, Woolf, Nabokov and Easton Ellis. Without doubt one of the most courageous and surprising novels in recent years. Publishing details Een honger (2015) 588 pp., 190,100 words 3,000 copies sold Rights Querido Jolijn Spooren [email protected] www.singeluitgeverijen.nl ‘In both style and content, A Hunger is a highlight of contemporary Dutch literature. Here we have a writer with something to say and who knows how to say it beautifully.’ – Noord Hollands Dagblad ‘Few writers immerse themselves so deeply in their characters as [Ouariachi] does. A Hunger is not only a catalogue of peerless sentences, but also a miracle of imagination and empathy.’ – De Standaard Jamal Ouariachi (b. 1978) studied psychology and spent years working as an online therapist. He made his literary debut in 2010 with the novel De vernietiging van Prosper Morèl (The Destruction of Prosper Morèl). Since then he has written controversial stories, articles and columns for a range of leading publications including nrc.next, HP/De Tijd, de Volkskrant, Knack Focus and Vogue. His second novel Tenderness earned him nominations for the BNG Literature Prize and the Gouden Uil. He followed up this success with 25, one-third of a Dutch literary trilogy written in response to Fifty Shades of Grey. ‘You may well ask: do I actually want to read a defence of paedophilia? But when the result is great literature, a reviewer who simply stands in judgement should be viewed with definite distrust.’ – NRC Handelsblad Photo: Arnout Hulskamp 7 Books from Holland Sander Kollaard Stage IV A tender story of love, loss and natural beauty with an unexpected ending Sarie and Barend, married for more than forty years, are happily looking forward to taking a trip around Europe in a camper van. Their plans come crashing down when Sarie is unexpectedly diagnosed with metastasised ‘stage IV’ cancer. Armed with painkillers, the couple return to the Swedish island where their love began. ‘“I want to go to Öland,” Sarie says. “I want to see all those places again and remember how happy we were… I don’t want to spend any more time thinking about cancer and therapies and prognoses. If you really want to help, then take me with you and make me happy like we were then, so that I can die happy.”’ Barend struggles with his wife’s decision to let her illness take its course but does everything in his power to give her the final journey she so badly wants. Together they enjoy the Swedish countryside and the memories it conjures up for both of them, until Sarie’s tumour triggers increasingly frequent epileptic fits and dangerously uninhibited behaviour. Ultimately Barend realises what he will have to sacrifice to keep Sarie’s happiness intact. The story Sander Kollaard tells is profoundly sad without being either morose or heavy. Aside from a number of sobering digressions on euthanasia, palliative care and symptoms of the illness (‘To die of cancer is to die of a hysterical profusion of life’), Stage IV is above all a story about love and the ways in which a fatal illness can dramatically destabilise even an ideal relationship. But it is also a novel about the natural world and its power to console, described by Kollaard with exquisite and breathtaking precision. Although the couple’s journey only takes them through a small part of Sweden, Sarie identifies with the protagonist of Selma Lagerlöf ’s book The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, who travels the length and breadth of the country, a physical journey that stands for a journey within. Stage IV might similarly be described as a road novel. Though limited to a single setting, it takes its characters and its readers on a journey that is both heartfelt and enriching. Publishing details Stadium IV (2015) 158 pp., 44,252 words 20,000 copies sold Publisher Van Oorschot, Amsterdam www.vanoorschot.nl Rights Menno Hartman [email protected] www. vanoorschot.nl Laura Susijn [email protected] ‘Kollaard deftly keeps sentimentality at bay, yet makes the couple’s battle to find a little happiness together intensely believable […] using his protagonists’ memories to great effect. He chooses his words impeccably, striking exactly the right balance between tender and pragmatic.’ – Tzum Historian Sander Kollaard (b. 1961) made his literary debut at the age of fifty with Onmiddellijke terugkeer van uw geliefde (The Immediate Return of Your Loved One, 2012), an unconventional short-story collection in which a Pirandello-esque tale rubs shoulders with a thought-provoking reflection on the winning goal of the 1988 European Championship final. Stage IV is Kollaard’s debut novel. He moved to Sweden in 2006, from where he writes for Dutch medical publishers. ‘Beautiful, restrained and moving.’ – Haarlems Dagblad Voted Book of the Month by the book panel of the Netherlands’ most influential talk show, De Wereld Draait Door. Photo: Susanna Erlandsson 8 Books from Holland Inge Schilperoord Tench Acclaimed and powerful literary debut about a man who falls victim to his own desire One sunny morning, the narrator Jonathan is released from prison to return to his elderly mother in her sad house by the North Sea. All we are told about his crime is that he is spared from compulsory psychiatric treatment, due to lack of evidence. However, he is instructed by his psychologist to record his experiences and feelings. The stakes are high in the emotional world of this middle-aged man: he has an almost uncontrollable desire for young girls and is drawn to nine-year-old Elke who lives next door. She too lives alone with her mother. She too seems lost and lonely, and is often left to fend for herself. Despite their age difference, Jonathan befriends the girl and together they take care of an ailing fish he finds swimming in a pool among the dunes. A tender relationship begins to develop. Jonathan sees Elke as someone he wants to love and protect, but he describes his feelings in unsettlingly adult terms. So long as the fish is healthy, Jonathan remains on an even keel. So long as he can order his inner life according to his therapy workbook, he can keep himself under control and oversee the transition from feelings and thoughts to behaviour, events and consequences. But the sun beats relentless down on the sand dunes and the fish begins to deteriorate, and desire flares up within Jonathan, a desire that he has been struggling so very hard to resist, knowing that it is wrong. The novel moves inexorably towards its dramatic denouement. Tench is a novel that raises questions about society’s efforts to deal with those whose sexual urges violate its norms and standards. Should they be treated as criminals and outcasts or should we find ways to help them? To prevent abuse, surely we need to understand the nature of the potential abuser? Inge Schilperoord has written an insightful and disturbing account of one man’s struggle to rein in the uncontrollable, which stays with the reader long after the final page. Publishing details Muidhond (2015) 221 pp., 60,922 words 8,000 copies sold Publisher Podium Merijn Hollestelle, [email protected] www.uitgeverijpodium.nl Rights 2Seas Agency Marleen Seegers marleen.seegers@2seasagency. com Rights sold France (Belfond) Turkey (Pinhan) UK (Pushkin Press, World English) ‘A debut as compelling as it is daring. A portrait of a good man with harmful desires – far more chilling and infinitely more tragic than a portrait of a monster.’ – HP/De Tijd ‘Prose that demands the reader’s fullest attention. [...] a riveting book that will not let you look away.’ – NRC Handelsblad Inge Schilperoord (b. 1973) works as a forensic psychologist and has published articles in NRC Handelsblad, Psychologie Magazine and Crossing Border Magazine. The Englishlanguage and French-language rights to her debut novel Muidhond (Tench) were purchased this summer, as were the film rights. The novel has also been longlisted for the ECI Literature Prize. ‘A tour de force. This is a brilliant and essential novel.’ – De Morgen ‘A dark and impressive achievement.’ – de Volkskrant Photo: Keke Keukelaar 9 Books from Holland Dola de Jong The Field Rediscovered classic: a timeless novel about the tribulations of a remarkable refugee family Aart and Lies, a young Jewish couple, flee the Netherlands on the eve of the Second World War and settle near the Moroccan city of Tangier. With their young son and the six refugee children they have taken under their wing on their journey south, they set about making a new home for themselves, living in a caravan and trying to farm an abandoned field. The subtle and unsentimental narrative recounts the growing pains of the children, as they struggle to hold their own in the face of incredible challenges. This unlikely family of refugees consists of Rainer, an eighteen-year-old German boy, two Polish sisters Maria and Luba, fourteen and seven, and Pierre from France and Berthe from Belgium, both only five. All the orphaned children are Jewish, except for sixteen-year-old Hans who had to flee Germany because of his father’s involvement in the Resistance. Aart’s and Lies’ ideals prove no match for the troubles they face: Lies falls pregnant, Pierre’s leg has to be amputated, the children are infested with lice and nothing grows on their field. The local consul regularly denies the surrogate family the financial support to which they are entitled. Slowly they drift apart: Luba becomes the housekeeper – and perhaps more – to a Dutch expat, while Maria is adopted by the consul’s family, largely against her will. Aart is wrongfully arrested and, once released from prison, finds himself in an unspoken conflict with Hans over who is head of the family. Amid these domestic dramas, the family comes to be overshadowed by an even greater threat. Dola de Jong fled to Tangier in 1940 to escape the rising tide of anti-semitism in her Dutch homeland. Her family stayed behind and The Field is dedicated to her parents and her brother who died in the Holocaust. She paints a convincing picture of Tangier, then a melting pot of cultures teeming with spies, crooks and indifferent officials, where refugees fall prey to petty power games and opportunistic adventurers. The novel is a bittersweet, all too relevant story of refugees in search of a better future. Dola de Jong was born in the Netherlands in 1911 but fled the country in 1940 and ended up in the United States. She was a novelist and a writer of children’s books, short stories and columns. Her literary debut Dans om het hart (Dance for the Heart, 1939) drew on her early career as a dancer. In 1945, And the Field is the World was published in New York to widespread acclaim and was edited by Maxwell Perkins, who had worked with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Two years later, the novel was published in Dutch as En de akker is de wereld and was awarded the City of Amsterdam’s Literature Prize. Her novel De thuiswacht (The Tree and the Vine), a wartime story of the love between two women, was published in the Netherlands in 1954. She won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the US for her English-language mystery novel The Whirligig of Time (1964), which she translated into Dutch as De draaitol van de tijd (1965). Dola de Jong read Dutch literature for New York publishers and her recommendations led to the US publication of Anne Frank, Hugo Claus, Jan Cremer, Jef Geeraerts and Jan Wolkers among others. She died in California in 2003. Publishing details En de akker is de wereld (2015) 272 pp., 76,000 words 3,000 copies sold Publisher Cossee Laurens Molegraaf [email protected] www.cossee.com Translated title And the Field is the World (Scribner, 1945) 500,000 copies sold Rights sold Czech Republic (Pistorius & Olsanska) Sweden (Nilsson förlag) ‘Of all the books to come out of World War II, none reveal with such terrifying clarity the nature of demoralization. Written with a realism that suggests Flaubert, The Field is tender as well as well terrible. A beautiful job of writing’. – Associated Press 10 Books from Holland Maria Dermoût The Ten Thousand Things A classic novel that has inspired readers across the world A consummate stylist, Maria Dermoût is renowned for leaving her readers with final sentences that resonate with hope and consolation. She invests her characters with strength and self-awareness, in the full knowledge that while life can be unjust it is still worth living, and she writes in prose so sensual and vivid that you can almost inhabit the world she describes. When Felicia is sent away to be educated in the Netherlands as a young girl, her grandmother gives her a bracelet, ‘This is for you. Make sure you come back with it.’ Felicia does exactly that. She returns with her son and without a husband to the remote island in the Dutch East Indies where her grandmother still lives. There Felicia finds herself wedded to an uncanny and dangerous world, full of mystery and violence, where objects tell tales, the dead come and go, and the past is as potent as the future. Felicia’s son falls in love with a woman who already has a child and he joins the army, only to have his life cruelly cut short. Even in her grief, Felicia continues to believe in her grandmother’s simple wisdom: see the beauty, see the ten thousand things around you. Dermoût interweaves the various elements of her subtle novel to overwhelming effect: there is something intrinsically Asian about her mesmeric style and powerful use of repetition. Events are told and retold from differing perspectives, since that is how human beings learn about themselves and the world. At the end of the novel, Felicia sits alone on her veranda. She does this one day each year, to meet her departed loved ones, to talk with them and to try to come to terms with the brutal death of her son. Her servants call her inside as evening falls. ‘Then the lady of the Small Garden whose name was Felicia stood up from her chair obediently and without looking around at the inner bay in the moonlight – it would remain there, always – she went with them, under the trees and indoors, to drink her cup of coffee and try again to go on living.’ Maria Dermoût (1888-1962) was born on a sugar plantation on Java in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). Her first novel, the sensual coming-of-age drama Days Before Yesterday was published in 1951 and subsequently translated into several languages. The Ten Thousand Things came out in 1955 and found a readership in over ten languages. Dermoût’s modest but exceptional and enduring oeuvre continues to inspire. In her 2012 autobiographical bestseller Wild, Cheryl Strayed describes how Dermoût’s words kept her going on her rite-of-passage hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. Publishing details De tienduizend dingen (1955) 256 pp., 98,000 words Rights Querido Jolijn Spooren [email protected] www.singeluitgeverijen.nl Translated titles De tienduizend dingen. Translated into English, French, German, Danish, Arabic, Spanish, Swedish, Italian, Nahasa, Icelandic and Chinese. Nog pas gisteren. Translated into English and German. English translation available ‘Mrs. Dermout, in the manner of Thoreau and the early Hemingway, is an extraordinary sensualist. But her approach is not the muzzy, semi-poetic one in which the writer damagingly affixes his own imagination to what he sees. Instead, her instinct for beauty results, again and again, in passages of a startling, unadorned, three-dimensional clarity; often one can almost touch what she describes.’ – The New Yorker ‘Each of Dermoût’s sentences came at me like a soft knowing dagger, depicting a far-off land that felt to me like the blood of all the places I used to love.’ – From Cheryl Strayed, Wild ‘An offbeat narrative that has the timeless tone of legend.’ – Time Photo: Larry Burrows 11 Books from Holland Mark Hendriks Tibet: The Healing of Mhusha the Butcher’s Daughter Graphic novel charts an unsettling odyssey through a Tibetan dystopia Hendriks’ black-and-white illustrations are stunning in their simplicity and his religious critique is razor-sharp. In Tibet, he delivers a heady mix of East Asian ink-wash art and the satirical bite of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Hendriks’ novel is a dystopian vision of an independent Tibet torn apart by religious strife. The new nation amounts to little more than a collection of fiefdoms where rival Buddhist sects battle for power. Mhusha suffers from an ailment supposedly brought on by demonic possession. The local nobleman grants her permission to travel to the monastery in Dbu Li to visit a lama with special healing powers. Accompanied by her neighbour Lhaso, Mhusha goes in search of the monastery on what turns out to be an epic journey through a fragmented land. Tibet wrong-foots the reader at every turn, thanks to Hendriks’ refusal to settle for simplification. He pokes fun at the West’s predilection for the esoteric side of Buddhism and launches a satirical attack on the lust for power among the Buddhist elite, exposing a society based on subjugation. The monks in Tibet are a far cry from the peace-loving, ever-smiling Dalai Lama. As rulers, they demonstrate an exasperating inability to act, their sole solution to social problems being to chant Om Mani Padme Hum another several hundred times. Hendriks also weaves the sexism among Tibetan Buddhists into his narrative, some of whom even deny the humanity of women. Yet at the same time the book is an unashamed ode to the unspoiled natural landscape of Tibet, featuring exquisite illustrations of its endless mountain ranges. With Tibet: The Healing of Mhusha the Butcher’s Daughter, newly founded publisher Scratch Books presents an impressively documented, hard-hitting yet humorous fable that calls the West to account for its romanticised view of Tibet. Prize-winning graphic artist Mark Hendriks is fascinated by Asia, the setting for most of his work. In 1997 he graduated from Groningen’s Minerva Art Academy, one year after winning the VSB Award for upcoming talent. He went on to receive a Slovenian Handyburger Award in 1998 and is a three-time winner of the Strip schap Prize. To date, his work has been translated into French, Japanese, Italian, Slovenian and Finnish. Publishing details Tibet: De genezing van Mhusha de slagersdochter (2015) 400 pp. Black-and-white illustrations Rights Scratch Books Irene Kunst, [email protected] www.scratchbooks.nl ‘Mark Hendriks’ style, which reveals the influence of Pratt, Hubinon and Micheluzzi, is strongly visual: sparing with text and rich in atmosphere, evoked in a fine and sensitive line.’ – Jury report for the VSB Upcoming Talent Award. ‘A staggering combination of craftsmanship, vibrant drawing, layered humour, surprising elements and strange plot twists. – De Boekenkrant ‘Tibet is a glorious book, a tremendous satire on the esoteric and a warning against false prophets.’ – Stripinfo Photo: Gert Jan Pos 12 Books from Holland Leon de Winter Geronimo Fast-paced political thriller in the tradition of Tom Clancy and Frederic Forsyth What if Osama Bin Laden were still alive and a lookalike had been gunned down in his place? This is the geopolitical gamechanger that ignites Leon de Winter’s novel Geronimo. Abbottabad, Pakistan, 2011. ‘Usama’ Bin Laden, the world’s most feared terrorist, has the fate of the President of the United States in his hands. The information he has obtained will enable him to engineer the fall of the US government. Tom Johnson, a former CIA agent whose marriage imploded after the death of his young daughter, is indirectly involved in a rogue mission to bring Bin Laden to justice: this plan, and that of his fellow servicemen, is not to follow implied U.S. instructions to ‘capture or kill’ but to take him alive. At the base where he is stationed, Tom had struck up a friendship with an Afghan interpreter and awakened a passion for music in his friend’s young daughter Apana by introducing her to Bach’s Goldberg Variations. When the interpreter is killed during a mission, Tom takes Apana under his care but during a Taliban attack on the base, she is abducted. Desperate not to lose another daughter, Tom vows to do whatever it takes to get her back. Mutilated by her Taliban abductors, Apana is cast out on to the streets of Abbottabad, where Jabbar, an enterprising young Pakistani, does his best to look out for her. Jabbar’s enquiring mind, will later put him in jeopardy. One night, unable to sleep, Usama jumps on a beaten-up motorbike and heads through the tunnel under his hiding place to buy a pack of cigarettes. Out on the street he encounters a crippled beggar girl who seems to recognise him. Determined not to risk discovery, he takes the girl back to his hiding place. It is Apana. Through her, Usama, Tom and Jabbar are now linked. Geronimo takes its title from the code name for the operation to eliminate Bin Laden. It is a superb and compelling political thriller that packs a punch on many levels. Publishing details Geronimo (2015) 362 pp., 93,337 words 42,000 copies sold Publisher De Bezige Bij Marijke Nagtegaal [email protected] Uta Matten [email protected] www.debezigebij.nl Rights sold Germany (Diogenes) Translated titles Please see www.vertalingendatabase.nl ‘A novel with the breakneck pace of a Tom Clancy thriller.’ – Elsevier ‘De Winter stokes the imagination till the pages catch fire. It’s a drive that makes him unique.’ – de Volkskrant Leon de Winter (b. 1954) is a bestselling author both in the Netherlands and abroad, particularly in Germany. Hoffman’s Hunger was published in 1990, followed by many more novels. The novel The Hollywood Sign (1997) was made into a film with Rod Steiger, Burt Reynolds and Tom Berenger. Major bestsellers God’s Gym (2002), The Right of Return (2008) and VSV (2012) followed. De Winter is also a high-profile political commentator, known for his critical stance towards Islam. ‘Unrelenting suspense and conspiracy theories that hit home thanks to knowing use of detail, a testament to the author’s dogged approach to documentation and his thirst for authenticity.’ – VN Detective en Thrillergids Photo: Marco Okhuizen 13 Books from Holland Successful Titles Making a Splash on the International Literary Market Adventures of a feisty old codger in a care home Bittersweet accounts of dreaming young men and their ruin Hendrik Groen Nescio Attempts to Make Something of Life Amsterdam Stories (De uitvreter; Titaantjes; Dichtertje) 250,000 copies sold (Pogingen iets van het leven te maken. Het geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 83 1 ⁄4 jaar) 40,000 copies sold Rights: Marleen Seegers, [email protected] Rights sold: Brazil (Planeta), Catalonia (Amsterdam), China (Thinkingdom), Finland (Gummerus), France (Presses de la Cité), Germany (Piper), Greece (Patakis), Hungary (Libri Kiado), Iceland (Bjartur), Italy (Longanesi), Korea (Moonhak Soochup), Lithuania (Alma Littera), Norway (Vigmostad & Bjørke), Poland (Albatros), Portugal (Jacaranda), Serbia (Dereta), Slovenia (Mladinska Knjiga), Spain (Roca), Sweden (Wahlström & Widstrand), Turkey (Can), UK & Commonwealth (Michael Joseph/Penguin Randomhouse UK). Rights: Jolijn Spooren, [email protected] Rights sold: France (Gallimard), Germany (Amman, Suhrkamp), Hungary (Gondolat), Indonesia (Penerbit Djambatan), Italy (Iperborea), Poland (P.I.W.), Slovakia (Európa), Spain (Elba), Sweden (Malexis), Turkey (Odem Yayınları), US (New York Review of Books Classics) ‘Hendrik Groen is king. My mother (78) suffers from dementia. Doesn’t read a newspaper or magazine anymore, only old photo albums can grab her attention for longer than 5 min. Hendrik Groen made her laugh out loud and she was reading for a good half hour in his book.’ – Ray Kluun, author of Love Life ‘Nescio is the greatest Dutch writer’. – Tommy Wieringa ‘Makes you never want to stop reading about the insanities, the sadnesses, the courage and fragility of the childhood that Nescio describes so brilliantly [...]’ – La Repubblica Prizewinning novel about the loss of the author’s only son The history of a pharmaceutical multinational in a thrilling novel about sex addiction and the abuse of power A.F.Th. van der Heijden Saskia Goldschmidt 230,000 copies sold (De hormoonfabriek) 10,000 copies sold Film rights sold to FilmTalents, Jacques Audiard (Un Prophète, Dheepan) will direct the movie. Tonio Rights: Marijke Nagtegaal, [email protected], Uta Matten, [email protected] Rights sold: China (Flower City), Germany (Suhrkamp), Hungary (Gondolat), World English (Scribe) ‘A monument to love and suffering: the author A.F.Th. van der Heijden has written a requiem for his son. Tonio is one of the most powerful, compelling expressions of the human spirit in the face of its opposite, death and the void’. – Die Welt The Hormone Factory Rights: Laurens Molegraaf, [email protected] Rights sold: France (Gallimard), Germany (DTV), South-Africa (Protea),Turkey (Bence Kitap), UK (Saraband), US (Other Press) ‘The Hormone Factory is a dark, fascinating exploration of man’s nature set during an era of exciting scientific discovery and geopolitical turmoil.’ – The Lancet 14 Books from Holland Recent Translations This is a selection of recently published translations from the Dutch. For more information please go to our online database of translations www.vertalingendatabase.nl. Rodaan Al Galidi The Autist and the Carrier-Pigeon A. Alberts The Islands Gerbrand Bakker June Autistas ir pašto balandis Translated into Lithuanian by Birute· Avižiniene· for Gelme·s Publishing, 2015. Îles Translated into French by Kim Andringa for Piranha, 2015. June Translated into English by David Colmer for Harvill Secker, 2015 Jan Brokken The Revenge A.F. Th. van der Heijden Tonio Herman Koch Dear Mr M. Die Vergeltung Translated into German by Helga van Beuningen for Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2015. Tonio Translated into English by Jonathan Reeder for Scribe, 2015. Sehr geehrter Herr M. Translated into German by Christiane Kuby and Herbert Post for Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2015. 15 Books from Holland Ernest van der Kwast Giovanna’s Navel Cees Nooteboom A Song of Truth and Semblance Gustaaf Peek Dover Fünf Viertelstunden bis zum Meer Translated into German by Andreas Ecke for Marebuch, 2015. En sång om sken och vara Translated into Swedish by Per Holmer for Modernista, 2015. Dover Translated into Indonesian by Widjajanti Dharmowijono for Gramedia, 2015. Ida Simons A Foolish Virgin Tommy Wieringa A Beautiful Young Woman Jan Wolkers Turkish Delight Una vergine sciocca Translated into Italian by Laura Pignatti for Rizzoli, 2015. Szép, fiatal feleségem Translated into Hungarian by Szabolcs Wekerle for Libri, 2015. [Loukoúmia] Translated into Greek by Ynn van Dijck-Baltas for Potamos, 2015. Books from Holland Connie Palmen You Said It Inge Schilperoord Tench P.F. Thomése The Underwater Swimmer Dola de Jong The Field Guus Kuijer The Bible for Unbelievers Maria Dermoût The Ten Thousand Things Jamal Ouariachi A Hunger Mark Hendriks Tibet Sander Kollaard Stage IV Leon de Winter Geronimo Books from Holland is distributed to international editors and publishers. Please contact us if you would like to be included on our mailing list. Editors Dick Broer, Barbara den Ouden, Tiziano Perez, Victor Schiferli, Pieter Steinz Contributions Dick Broer, Reintje Gianotten, Marlies Hoff, Mara Joustra, Barbara den Ouden, Tiziano Perez, Victor Schiferli, Pieter Steinz Translation David Doherty N ederlands letterenfonds dutch foundation for literature Postbus /PO Box 16588 1001 RB Amsterdam t +31 (0)20 520 73 00 f +31 (0)20 520 73 99 [email protected] www.letterenfonds.nl visiting address Nieuwe Prinsengracht 89 1018 VR Amsterdam Cover Image Victor Schiferli www.flickr.com/victorschiferli Printing Platform P Design Kummer & Herrman, Utrecht
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